Life as I know It

Saturday, May 30, 2009

I am writing this blog entry from a hotel in Moab, Utah. We are heading east for my keynote address for the Annual Educational Conference for Herb Society of America in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It will be so wonderful to see many old friends and to make new ones. Herb gardeners are old souls connected to the past with an ancient lineage of plants used by mankind for thousands of years. Herbs, what would I do without them? Sometimes when I am worried, just walking among my beds of herbs, stroking their scented leaves, and talking to them makes me feel better.

The past few weeks are a blur. Together with my editor, I have been going through nearly 300 pages of manuscript, checking, rechecking, polishing, and making it fit for all of you to enjoy. Writing is a lot like tending a garden–I need to tend to it daily, watch it grow slowly, weed out anything extraneous, and step back to enjoy it.

Last week was a whirlwind happening. A wonderful photographer Miki Duisterhof (see http://www.mikiduisterhof.com/) and her assistant Tiffany Howe (http://www.tiffanyhowephotography.com/), and a photography director from Workman Publishing came out to do a photo shoot for the new book. The photographs were to help replace the lost 238 illustrations and to give the book a totally new look. I love, love, love what they did and think that you will too.

Showing your child the life within

Nature table top museum

Tea party inside the runner bean tepee

As the photographers worked their way through my home, studio, and garden, my husband Jeff took a few quick shots for this blog so you can get a small taste of what is to come.